Pencil-sharpener



UNITED STATES lATENT Prion..

PETER MCMENAMIN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

PENCIL-SHARPEN ER.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 502,008, dated July 25, 1893.

Application iiled April 2K5, 1893.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, PETER MOMENAMIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pencil-Sharpeners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to pencil sharpeners, and more particularly to that class in which the blade or knife is designed to give a straight or longitudinal, instead of a rotary cut. Generally speaking in this class of pencil sharpeners, the end of the pencil is drawn repeatedly across the blade of the Sharpener while the latter is held stationary; the pencil being held in the right hand, and the pencil sharpener in the left, making the operation awkward and cutting the pencil from the under side, necessitating its removal to inspect each cut.

Now the object of my invention, is to provide a pencil sharpener adapted to be held in the right hand, with the blade uppermost and operated as a plane upon the end of the -pencil, thereby giving the operator perfect control of the same and enabling him to see each cutas it is made.

It is also my object to provide a Sharpener of light construction easily wielded and especially adapted to planing the wood evenly and giving to the lead a line point, without liability of breaking the same.

In the 'accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a perspective view showing my pencil Sharpener in use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view taken from the under side of the device. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line :1c-a2 Fig. l, and Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are modifications.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, A denotes a steel blade having cutting edges a a formed at each end. Said blade is seated on a triangular block or body piece B by screws b b.

C C denote side bars, secured upon opposite sides to the block B by screws c, said barsv having rounded ends f, projecting beyond the cutting edge of the blade, and the upper sides serai No.' 471,755. (No man.)

of said bars also project slightly above the blade, thus protecting it on all sides from doing or receiving injury. Said ends also serve to shield the hands from contact with the pencil end, and give a purchase for the fingers close to the cutting edge of the blade, thus affording perfect control of the same, without soiling the fingers. These several parts ex: cepting the blade may be made of wood or metal in one or more pieces, or the body piece may be made of wood, and the side bars of metal. Said parts are of f about the dimensions shown in the'drawings, space enough being allowed between the side bars, to admit a pencil.

Asl shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the side bars form in connection with the body piece, guide ways in lwhich the pencil is held, and bring its'end in contact with the cutting edge of the blade; the rounded ends f preventing the lateral escape of the pencil.

It is evident that the body piece and side bars may be cast or made in one piece, and the blade secured to the body piece by screws or otherwise, or I may form the sharpenerout of one piece of metal, the body piece having cutting edges formed thereon. Again instead ot' having the Sharpeners double ended as shown, I may make them with a single cutting ing the device in the right hand with the blade 1 uppermost, while the pencil is held firmly between the side bars, in contact with the cutting edge of the blade by the left hand, as

shown in Fig. l; the Sharpener is then moved back and forth as a plane on the end of the pencil, as it is rotated.

My Sharpener acts as a plane in shaving the wood off the pencil end, and in pointing the lead the beveled end of the pencil bears against the sloping side of the body piece, thus taking the weight or pressure from the lead as it is being cut, avoiding the liability heretofore of breaking the same. Moreover in sharpening the lead, a saw cut may be given by drawing the cutting edge across the lead, as it is sharpened to give a fine point. By

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combining the beveled and straight sides in the body piece, the sharpener maybe reversed, and placed at different angles to the pencil to give a long tapering end or a short bevel. As the blade is worn away by sharpening, the sloping sides of the wooden body piece can be filed off to keep the cutting edges of the blade projecting as well as to preserve the same relative angle of said sides to the blade.

Having shown and described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A pencil Sharpener consisting of a body piece or holder having its ends shaped to an acute angle, and a blade or cutter projecting endwise thereover, said body piece or holder having side bars secured thereto and projecting in front of and below said blade or cutter, substantially as described and shown.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PETER MCMENAMIN.

Witnesses:

JOHN JELLY, JAMES N. DAVIS. 

